I just heard a beautiful song this week… and I wanted to share it with you. Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1zXR79segI (beginning at timestamp 0:0 thru timestamp 1:01)
I’ve seen what SIN can do. It can drag you down and bury you. And I’ve seen what SHAME can do, it can tell your heart you’ve fallen too far away. But I have felt how it feels to be forgiven and made new. Hallelujah, I’ve seen what grace can do.
And that’s why Jesus came. He came to break the chains of SIN, and to heal the damage of SHAME
Here in Luke 22 we see TWO men who betrayed Jesus. TWO men who felt the shame of their sin. And these TWO men who had to make a decision about what to do with Jesus.
We’re going to start with Judas - the betrayer. By the time the Gospels were written, his name was so disliked that one passage tells us about another disciple named Judas… and says this: “Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’” John 14:22
Apparently, John wanted to make sure that we understood that this Judas was not the same man who betrayed Christ. But, among the apostles, Judas had been the one man that everybody trusted. I mean - he held the moneybag - the common purse, and he collected all the donations and paid all the expenses. He seemed to be a very trustworthy individual. Nobody would have ever thought that Judas Iscariot would steal from them. BUT HE DID.
In John 12:3-6 we’re told that “Mary (the sister of Martha and Lazarus) took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray Jesus), said, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because HE WAS A THIEF, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.”
Judas loved money - and that’s why he betrayed Jesus. Luke 22:3-5 tells us “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to GIVE HIM MONEY.”
For 30 pieces of silver, Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss.
But, wait a minute? Didn’t Jesus know what kind of man Judas was? Well, yeah. In his final prayer in the garden (John 17:12) Jesus prayed: “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (Psalm 41:9 or Psalm 109:4-13)
Why had Jesus chosen Judas to be the betrayer? Well 1st, Judas was chosen to fulfill prophecy, and secondly, Judas was chosen because of the kind of man was. Long before Jesus ever chose him for an Apostle, Judas was not a nice man, and he made bad choices because he liked bad choices.
In II Thessalonians 2:9-12 we’re told that “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO LOVE THE TRUTH AND SO BE SAVED. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
You see, God gives people what they want. If they WANT truth, He’ll give them truth, but if they want lies… He’ll give them lies and delusion. And, once certain people prefer lies and delusion they’ve already decided to reject truth. So, at that point, if God needed a job done (like being the betrayer of Jesus) those are the kinds of people that God would tap.
So, Judas was chosen by Jesus to be the one who’d betray Him. But I don’t really think Judas had intended for Jesus to be crucified. I suspect Judas believed Jesus might spend a night or 2 in jail, and that he might even be scourged a little and let loose, but he hadn’t realized Jesus was going to killed. And once he DID realize that – his reaction was complete horror.
Matthew 27:3-5 tells us “When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.”
Notice… Judas didn’t go to God for forgiveness. Instead, he hung himself! As the song we played at the beginning of the sermon says “I’ve seen what shame can do. Make a lie seem like the truth. It’ll tell your heart you fell too far away.” And that’s what happened to Judas. He saw what shame could do and shame told him that - he’d fallen too far away. It convinced him that suicide was his only option.
Now, what’s odd … is that Judas didn’t need to give into his shame. Jesus constantly sought out the sinners – the prostitutes/ the tax collectors - the people who lived their lives in constant shame. Jesus’ message was this: “I don’t care where you’ve been/ or what you’ve done. I can forgive you.”
And Judas had seen Jesus working with these people talking with them. Loving them; teaching them about god’s forgiveness for them; and Jesus never turned these people away.
Judas had heard Jesus say “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:12-13
Jesus had come to die for sinners… sinners just like Judas - and Jesus would have forgiven Judas. But Judas never really loved Jesus. He didn’t follow Jesus because he cared for Him, he followed Jesus because of what he could get OUT of Him. And so… in the end, Judas embraced his shame and paid with his life.
NOW, let’s look at Peter. If anyone would NEVER have betrayed Jesus, you’d have thought it would be him. He’d been picked by Jesus because he was a natural born leader. Peter had a bold faith and a strong loyalty to Christ. In fact, it was Peter that cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant when the mob came to arrest Jesus. He was trying to protect Christ
When Jesus told His disciples: "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’… And Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Matthew 26:31 & 33
And in the Gospel of John, we read that Peter vowed: “I will lay my life down for you!” John 13:37
BUT THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN. When it came down to the danger of losing his own life - Peter denied Jesus 3 times.
“Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said. But he denied it before them all. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ He denied it again, with an oath: ‘I don’t know the man!’ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.’ Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’ Immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows, you will disown me three times." AND HE WENT OUTSIDE AND WEPT BITTERLY. Matthew 27:69-75
Some people believe that – after Jesus rose from the dead – Peter gave serious thought to going back to fishing for a living. I mean, why bother doing this “Jesus” thing after you’ve failed Jesus as miserably as Peter had. In fact, fishing was what Peter was doing when Jesus appeared to him in John 21.
In John 21:4-7, We’re told that “Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved (John) therefore said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment… and threw himself into the sea” (and he swam to shore).
Peter desperately wanted to be with Jesus, but he’d failed. And it was possible that he’d thought about just giving up and walking away from Christ. But, instead of walking AWAY from Jesus, Peter swam TOWARD Him - and that’s what made ALL the difference.
Later - at a campfire - Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. Three times, Peter said he did. But the 3rd time he was filled with grief because he knew he had denied Jesus 3 times. Unlike Judas - who never loved Jesus - Peter really DID love Jesus. And he REPENTED because he was willing to acknowledge he’d failed.
HE KNEW WHAT GRACE COULD DO!
II Corinthians 8:10 tells us that: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (NIV 1984)
Judas illustrated WORLDLY SORRROW. Judas had walked away from Jesus, because he really didn’t love Him. He felt sorrow, but he didn’t want to change. And that brought him … death!
But Peter was an example of Godly sorrow. His grief led to repentance… and then… to restoration.
CLOSE: Years ago we had a man visit our congregation who was an avowed homosexual. Everybody in church knew who he was because – at one time – he’d been a preacher in our brotherhood had been and was instrumental in turning around a church just south of Indianapolis.
Then he got caught in a homosexual relationship. He divorced his wife; quit the pulpit; and he quit Jesus. By the time he reached our fair city, he was a bitter man who had nothing to say that was good about Jesus, His church or the Christian faith.
But now - here he was, sitting in a church for the first time in about a decade. No one here shunned him or avoided him. During greeting time, he was welcomed just like everyone else. And he kept coming back week after week. Finally, after about 3 months, he came to me and asked if he could speak to the Elders. When he sat down with myself and the Elders and he said “You know who I am and what I’ve done. I don’t want to be like that anymore. Would you help me and would you forgive me?” To their credit, the Elders told “That’s what we’re in the business of doing” and they prayed for him, welcomed him into the congregation. Eventually he was giving regular communion meditations.
And he left his lifestyle, burned his pornography, and became a faithful follower of Christ from that day forward. HE KNEW WHAT GRACE COULD DO
I want to close by singing the song we started the sermon with: “I’ve seen what sin can do. Drag you down and bury you. Make you think you’ll never see the light of day. I’ve seen what shame can do. Make a lie sound like the truth. It’ll tell your heart you fell too far away.
But I have seen a Father come running. And I have seen His arms open wide saying come back home. I have felt … how it feels to be forgiven and made new. Hallelujah, I have seen what grace can do. Hallelujah I have seen what grace can do. Have you seen what grace can do?
INVITATION
